Continuous Improvement Cycle Research Articles

EXAMINING FOURTH YEAR MECHANICAL ENGINEERING STUDENT PERCEPTIONS OF GRADUATE ATTRIBUTE COMPETENCIES: YEAR THREE

This paper describes the third year of amixed methods explanatory case study to examine fourthyear engineering student perceptions of the CEABgraduate attributes in the Mechanical Engineeringprogram using a student exit survey and student focusgroup interviews. The purpose of this paper is to reportstudents’ perceptions of their graduate attributecompetency levels and the program’s graduate attributestrengths and weaknesses in a three-year continuum,supporting the findings with the data from three studentfocus group interviews. This investigation offers thefaculty an understanding of its student engineeringstakeholders’ perceptions of how the CEAB graduateattributes are manifest in the Mechanical Engineeringprogram. It will be used to provide feedback atinstructor, program and faculty levels as the Universityof Manitoba’s Faculty of Engineering furthers its effortstowards achieving a continuous cycle of improvement

Corporate sustainability: an IS approach for integrating triple bottom line elements

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate the inter-relationships among three triple bottom line (TBL) outcomes of corporate sustainability, namely, corporate environmental performance outcome (CEPO), corporate social performance outcome (CSPO) and corporate financial performance outcome (CFPO), with the aid of an empirical study conducted in Australian businesses. The paper also aims to provide a roadmap for integrating sustainable business practices using information systems (IS) approach of continuous improvement lifecycle. Current business practices try to achieve economic, social and ecological goals independently as silos due to the individual operational challenges posed by each of these TBL principles. Design/methodology/approach – The research design mainly adopts a quantitative research methodology with data collected by means of a survey questionnaire that included both descriptive and exploratory flavour. The empirical study examines the relationships of TBL elements as perceived by 85 different Australian-based large, medium as well as small business organisations. The data collected were analysed by performing factor analysis on 21 items, resulting in three latent factors that were aligned to TBL outcomes and the correlations among them were analysed to assess their inter-relationships. Findings – The results of the study report weak and positive relationships existing between the TBL elements, with insights gained through the study leading towards useful implications that are well-supported by the qualitative feedback. The empirical study has also resulted in providing practical recommendations and an implementation framework consisting of a four-step roadmap with the participation of quality circles within an IS approach. Practical implications – The study focuses on inter-relationships and integration of TBL elements in Australian businesses. This could be extended to other businesses in different countries. The proposed roadmap with a continuous improvement cycle of system implementation steps facilitates any organisation to adopt an incremental integration of the social responsibility and environment protection practices within its core business operations for achieving corporate sustainability. Originality/value – While most of the TBL studies conducted worldwide focus on predominantly assessing large organisations towards responsible and sustainable business practices, this paper considers large, medium and small businesses. The research methodology adopted in this study as well as the proposed IS approach with quality circles add value to a growing body of literature with a recent increasing focus on integrated approaches for corporate sustainability.

Bringing Kaizen to the classroom: lessons learned in an Operations Management course

The managerial approach of Kaizen is used by different organisations around the world in order to improve the performance of their work processes and operations. Both the Total Quality Management literature and Kaizen have shown different efforts to illustrate the application of this approach in the traditional classroom-style business education. Also, business schools have a clear need for showing consistency between what is being taught in the classroom and what is being done in the day-to-day operations of the organisation. The purpose of this article is to describe the systematic application of Kaizen and its learned lessons during the last three years in the Operations Management (OM) course from the Master in Business Administration graduate programme taught at the Mexican Business School. An exploratory qualitative study was conducted. This research project provides empirical evidence of how Kaizen's continuous improvement cycle (PDCA) enables better results in students who have taken the subject of OM in a business school. The findings in each phase of the cycle show the Kaizen-oriented improvement actions and the results obtained in final grades (exam) and written reports. Finally, the study contributes to the limited existing literature on Kaizen in education and subsequently disseminates this information in order to provide impetus, guidance and support towards improvement in the quality of teaching in a business school.

Measuring Credential Candidates’ Impact on Student Achievement

The Council for the Accreditation of Educator Preparation (CAEP) requires faculty from educator preparation programs to provide evidence of credential candidates’ impact on K-12 student learning. However, there is a paucity of information on preparation programs’ use of direct assessments of student learning to gauge credential candidate effectiveness and engage in a continuous cycle of program improvement. Rather, measures of impact consist primarily of indirect estimates, such as results from licensure exams, supervisor evaluations, and classroom observations. This article describes the use of single-subject research design as a method of assessing the impact of credential candidates on K-12 student learning, especially as it relates to meeting the instructional and behavioral needs of diverse students. Implications for how this evaluation approach may be applied to a wide array of commonly targeted K-12 student skills, and employed within a broader program evaluation system are discussed.

Proactive occupational safety and health management: Promoting good health and good business

This research assessed the impact of organisational approaches to occupational safety and health (OSH) management on organisational performance, safety climate, employee attitudes, health and well-being. Interviews with health and safety personnel, company directors and worker representatives were used to categorise the organisations according to their approaches to OSH management, using the Continuous Improvement Cycle model (Budworth and Khan, 2003). A cross-sectional survey of 2067 employees from these organisations examined the impact of company size, industrial sector and approach to OSH management on indicators of organisational performance and employee outcomes. A structured questionnaire assessed demographic characteristics, organisation and job tenure, job satisfaction, organisational commitment, intention to quit and job motivation, safety climate, self-reported absence, performance and work-related ill-health. Organisations were also asked to provide data on profit, performance, accidents and absence indices. Organisations adopting a proactive approach to OSH management reported higher profit margins and lower accident rates, however these differences were not statistically significant. Organisations classified as ‘very good’ were found to show significantly more positive safety climate perceptions across eight out of the nine safety climate dimensions. Employees in proactive organisations were significantly more committed to their organisations and showed greater job satisfaction than employees in organisations categorised as ‘yet to be fully engaged/complier’. Positive safety climate perceptions and organisational attitudes were associated with better self-reported physical and mental health. The findings add to the validation of the CIC model as an assessment and learning tool which may support the transition of organisations from reactive to proactive safety culture.

Analysis of Peer Review Comments: QM Recommendations and Feedback Intervention Theory

Because feedback is a critical component of the continuous improvement cycle of the Quality Matters (QM) peer review process, the present research analyzed the feedback that peer reviewers provided to course developers after a voluntary, nonofficial QM peer review of online courses. Previous research reveals that the effects of feedback on performance are not consistently positive; however, these findings are frequently ignored by those who assume that all feedback improves performance. Feedback Intervention Theory (FIT) organizes the wide variability in this body of research by outlining conditions when feedback can be expected to improve or impair performance. In the present research, peer review comments were analyzed in comparison to the QM guidelines for writing effective recommendations and FIT to evaluate the feedback from the peer review process. Results of this study are applied to inform future training and peer review implementation.

Strategies of bringing drug product marketing applications to meet current regulatory standards.

In the past decade, many guidance documents have been issued through collaboration of global organizations and regulatory authorities. Most of these are applicable to new products, but there is a risk that currently marketed products will not meet the new compliance standards during audits and inspections while companies continue to make changes through the product life cycle for continuous improvement or market demands. This discussion presents different strategies to bringing drug product marketing applications to meet current and emerging standards. It also discusses stability and method designs to meet process validation and global development efforts.

Optimization of Research and Methodology Work at University in Terms of the Process Approach

The objective of this article is to improve the research and methodology work at university providing regulatory and instructional work of university teachers. The submitted article presents a way of managing a scientific - methodological work in terms of process approach that ensures quality of educational activities at university. The basis of the submitted work are the ideas of total quality management including the cycle of continuous activity improvement. The authors have developed the principles and process algorithm Management of research and methodology work at university, diagnostic tools of evaluating university teachers’ activity. This article is intended for educators, researchers, heads of educational institutions involved in design and management of research and methodology work in higher education.

Systems Metabolic Engineering of Arabidopsis for Increased Cellulose Production

Plant metabolism offers a source to a diverse variety of commodity compounds. One current focus is on improving the yield of cellulose for use of bioethanol production. Most current metabolic engineering strategies involves altering the expression of target genes. Computational methods that utilize genome-scale models have been shown to aid in the prediction of effective gene targets to manipulate in microbes to synthesize biofuel. Most genome-scale modeling algorithms constrain and evaluate the flux values predicted with flux balance analysis. We recently introduced a new algorithm that constrains the ratios of fluxes. This work expands the use of this algorithm and develops Reverse Flux Balance Analysis with Flux Ratios (Reverse FBrAtio) to allow prediction of metabolic engineering strategies. As a proof-of-concept, this novel algorithm was used with a genome-scale model of Arabidopsis thaliana to predict genetic manipulations to increase cellulose content. Increasing mitochondrial malate dehydrogenase activity was predicted to increase cellulose yield. Transgenic overexpression plant lines were constructed and the cellulose content of mature plants were measured. The crystalline cellulose content and biomass of the transgenic plants were found to be significantly higher. These results suggest that Reverse FBrAtio can aid in the prediction of metabolic engineering targets. The accuracy of the prediction can also be addressed through a continuous improvement cycle.

Lean quality improvement model for quality practices in software industry in Pakistan

AbstractImplementation of quality and achieving quality culture in small and medium software houses (SMSH) have been a subject of discussion among the industry. The existing software process improvement frameworks are too heavy for SMSH. There is a need of lean quality models that will help SMSH in establishing quality culture with minimal effort and resources. The objective of this research study is to map the environment and culture of SMSH in Pakistan towards quality improvement and process improvement by implementing total quality management philosophy. A lean quality improvement model (LQIM) consisting of four quality constructs and 10 quality practices has been proposed. The LQIM is validated using good fit indices in structural equation modeling. At the end, implementation of the proposed LQIM is explained using the Deming's philosophy of plan, do, check, act cycle for continuous process improvement. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

A framework to support the revalidation process.

In January 2016, all registered nurses and midwives will be required to revalidate their practice every three years. This will have implications for individual registrants and line managers. In May 2014 the chief nursing officer for Wales launched a new governance framework for post-registration nurse education in Wales. This article describes the framework, how it underpins a continuous cycle of improvement in care delivery, and how it could be used to support nurses and nurse managers to meet the requirements of the revalidation process.

Introducing a usability framework to support urban information discovery and analytics

One of the significant challenges facing the development of web portals is optimising the usability of such e-infrastructures for diverse, yet specialised, uses. This paper presents a usability framework for supporting the iterative testing and development of the Australian Urban Research Infrastructure Network (AURIN) portal. The portal serves as a securitised environment for data sharing, and as a repository of open-source analytical routines to support urban decision-making. Harmonisation, security, accessibility and discoverability are critical concerns at the data level as many different kinds of federated data are being referenced by the portal. Furthermore, urban researchers are accessing this portal across Australia as an advanced spatial decision support system. A further design consideration for the portal is that it needs to be able to be usable by non-experts to discover and access a broad spectrum of digital data and analytical tools relevant to human settlements. Managing the complexity across many areas and supporting a spectrum of naïve to expert users are significant challenges. In this research we present an overview of a usability framework, developed for the AURIN project, which elicits feedback from naïve users through to domain experts. This feedback is captured through hands-on workshops with participants and one-on-one user testing sessions. In this paper we report the findings from initial workshops with end-users and one-on-one testing sessions. We analyse this feedback to understand the current strengths and weaknesses of the system. The end-user feedback provides a dual purpose. Firstly, it is fed back to the technical development team as part of a cycle of continuous improvement. Secondly, the workshops also provide a vehicle for engaging end-users and raising awareness of the AURIN data search, interrogation and visualisation capabilities. We conclude the paper by discussing the next steps in developing and implementing the usability framework in relation to the AURIN portal.

Rethinking Curriculum and Instruction: Lessons From an Integrated Learning Program and Its Impact on Students and Teachers

CoTA (Collaborations: Teachers and Artists) is a professional development program that empowers teachers to access the arts in everyday instruction to support student achievement. CoTA schools commit to intense, 3-year collaborations for ten weeks each year where teachers learn to capitalize on arts content and strategies to promote knowledge and skills in other curricular areas, such as language arts and math. Teachers and artists work together to identify the learning needs of students, customize a project to meet those needs (while aligning to the standards), refine the project on a weekly basis through collaborative meetings, and formally reflect on the experience in a cycle of continuous improvement. As the program progresses, responsibility for designing arts-infused units increasingly falls to the classroom teachers as the artists shift into a coaching role. The result is a sustainable model with a legacy of confidence and skills in arts integration for teachers. Researchers from the University of California San Diego are conducting a quasi-experimental study, which features a multi-site, mixed-methods design to examine CoTA teachers’ understanding of arts standards and potential impacts on students in grades 1-6. Data sources include a pre/post-test to measure teachers' understanding of arts standards, teacher interviews that examine implementation, CoTA classroom observations, training documents, and student scores on language arts benchmarks. Analyses include thematic coding of qualitative data, as well as descriptive and inferential analyses of student outcome data collected by the District. This article will present preliminary findings from year one of a three-year evaluation.

Monroe County, Florida A Case Study in Sustainable Energy Management

ABSTRACTMonroe County, FL, includes the Florida Keys and a small portion of the Everglades. Due to its vulnerable location and low-lying islands, the county is aggressively pursuing sustainability initiatives to combat the adverse impacts of climate change. For example, the county obtained grant money from the state of Florida's energy office which was used to fund a very successful energy retrofit project at their “Jackson Square” government facilities in Key West. HDR Engineering, Inc., served as the engineer of record and provided services including an energy audit, bid package development, construction support and development and execution of a measurement and verification plan.This article provides information on the project with an emphasis on how the project team used, and continues to use, elements of the Plan-Do-Check-Act continuous improvement cycle, found in ISO 50001:2011 Energy Management Systems. Example elements include an energy review and baseline development, identification of significan...

Innovative Outcome Assessment in Graduate Business Education and Continuous Improvement

Abstract The changed environment of global economy with painful austerity and restructuring measures causing severe economic dislocations in many diverse parts of the world have brought into focus the usefulness and value of management education in general and graduate management education in particular. The various accrediting bodies in America, Europe and Asia in recent years have shifted their emphasis to ensuring that learning outcomes of students in the program are tied to the goals and missions of the academic institution and meet the needs of the external partners of the academic enterprise that the students go on to serve. This has resulted in rapid advances in the field of innovative outcome assessment, and measurement of competency in performing higher order tasks as well as demonstration of traits related to successful transition into the business world and contribution to the success of the enterprise where the students are employed. The mere assessment/measurement of traits is not the end, but rather the first step in the cycle of continuous improvement in the tradition of the Plan-Do-Study-Act tradition of TQM. The goal is to identify shortcomings or opportunities for improvement via the assessment process and then to “close the loop” by introducing planned changes to improve system performance.

Advance-care planning quality improvement plan: A Cancer Care Ontario toolkit to support primary care teams to implement advance care plans in practice.

76 Background: In Ontario, the Ministry of Health and Long Term Care’s (MOHLTC) uses Quality Improvement Plans (QIPs) to drive system improvement aimed at providing high value, high quality care for all. To support the introduction of QIPs into the primary care sector, Cancer Care Ontario has developed an Advance Care Planning (ACP) toolkit for practices that include ACP as part of their annual QIP. ACP is an ongoing and dynamic process that involves a capable individual reflecting on their current values and beliefs for their health care, communicating their personal wishes for future health care and identifying an individual who will make decisions on their behalf in the event that they are unable to provide informed consent. The process is iterative and wishes may change over time with changes in health status. Methods: The ACP QIP was developed based on the Plan, Do, Study, Act cycle of continuous quality improvement. The ACP QIP provides primary care practices with detailed instructions on how to implement, monitor and report on an ACP Quality Improvement initiative. Importantly, the ACP QIP provides guidance and practical tools for developing objectives, establishing targets, and identifying measures and baselines for performance. CCO is actively promoting the ACP QIP in an effort to encourage uptake and broad adoption across Ontario. Results: There is now evidence that with ACP there is a greater likelihood EOL wishes will be both known and followed resulting in improved EOL care. ACP is also associated with decreased distress among the family members. Conclusions: Creating an ACP QIP supports primary care’s focus on advancing quality patient care. Importantly, implementing the ACP QIP into primary care practices has the potential to improve EOL care and secondarily reduce health care costs ultimately working towards achieving the triple aim of “better care, better health, and lower costs”.

Abstract A84: Do patient follow-up improvements, at hospitals caring for medically underserved patients, impact no-show rates

Abstract Background: In Chicago Black women are 62% more likely to die from breast cancer than White women. Previous data from 39 Chicago hospitals suggested the existence of significant variation in mammography quality across facilities (Chicago Breast Cancer Quality Consortium, 2010). We developed process improvement recommendations for sites that participated in our care process assessment (Weldon CB, et al, ASCO-Abstract-6120-2012). This study was funded through a generous grant from the Susan G. Komen for the Cure Foundation. Appointment reminder calls and follow-up calls to patients that do not attend their appointments are effective in increasing breast cancer screening and diagnosis completion rates of (Goel A, et al, JHCPU 2008). We provided technical assistance to implement breast imaging care process improvements and compared pre and post process improvement appointment no-show rates and follow-up call rates at 14 sites. Procedures: Using Deming's PDCA cycle for continuous improvement, we created care process improvement recommendations for 27 Chicago institutions with the patient base averaging more than 50% medically underserved patients (22 community, 3 academic and 2 public hospitals), 17 of the sites are safety net institutions. Recommendations were based on analysis across sites, literature, and input from institution staff. We provided 14 of the sites with technical assistance to implement “rapid cycle” care process improvements (RCI sites). Sites were selected for technical assistance based on their need and their commitment to improving breast imaging care processes. Thematic and statistical analyses were performed using simple frequencies, and McNemar's test. Summary of Results: Detailed results are shown in the table below. Technical assistance was utilized by 14 of 17 safety net sites (RCI sites) to which it was offered. 10 sites adjusted their processes to conduct appointment reminder calls to patients. 12 sites implemented processes to conduct follow up phone calls with patients who missed an appointment, with a focus on answering patient questions and to schedule a new appointment. 6 sites adjusted their processes to conduct phone calls to inform patients of abnormal breast screening results (BIRADS 0, 4, 5) in addition to sending each patient a letter (MQSA requires at least a letter). Working with the 14 sites resulted in an improvement in no-show rates from 29% to 21%. Appointment reminder call: baseline 48% (13/27) all sites, 21% (3/14) RCI sites post-improvement 85% (23/27) all sites, 93% (13/14) RCI sites pvalue = 0.0044, Chi squared: 8.100 w 1 degree of freedom Call no-show patients : baseline 19% (5/27) all sites, 0% (0/14) RCI sites post-improvement 63% (17/27) all sites, 86% (12/14) RCI sites pvalue = 0.0015, Chi squared: 10.083 w 1 degree of freedom Call to follow up with patients who have abnormal results: baseline 56% (15/27) all sites, 50% (7/14) RCI sites post-improvement 78% (21/27) all sites, 93% (13/14) RCI sites pvalue = 0.0412, Chi squared: 4.167 w 1 degree of freedom No show rate for screening mammograms baseline 22% all sites, 29% RCI sites : post-improvement 18% all sites, 21% RCI sites Conclusions: Conducting phone calls to remind patients about appointments improves no-show rates at sites that care for the medically underserved. Further analysis may show a reduction in loss-to-follow-up for sites that implement follow up phone calls to patients who miss appointments and to patients who need additional diagnostic assessment. Findings from this study have generalizable application to health facilities beyond breast imaging sites. Given persistent and growing disparities in health outcomes for vulnerable populations and the limited resource availability; these findings suggest that implementation of basic patient tracking strategies have substantial benefit to improve patient outcomes and health care quality. Citation Format: Christine B. Weldon, Teena L. Francois, Julia R. Trosman, Betty Roggenkamp, Danielle M. Dupuy, Jimmie T. Knight, David A. Ansell, Anne Marie Murphy. Do patient follow-up improvements, at hospitals caring for medically underserved patients, impact no-show rates. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the Sixth AACR Conference: The Science of Cancer Health Disparities; Dec 6–9, 2013; Atlanta, GA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev 2014;23(11 Suppl):Abstract nr A84. doi:10.1158/1538-7755.DISP13-A84

Peer review in radiotherapy (RT): A national quality improvement initiative.

221 Background: Peer review (PR) in Radiation Oncology has been shown to be effective in improving quality of treatment by detecting and correcting deficiencies in proposed treatment plans prior to treatment. PR is also effective in: guiding departmental treatment planning policies and processes; reducing variation in practice; providing a venue for multi-disciplinary communication, and increasing staff and trainee awareness of evolving treatment processes. The importance of PR is reflected in the inclusion of 3 PR-specific quality indicators in the Canadian Partnership for Quality Radiotherapy QA Guidelines for Radiation Oncology programs. Given this endorsement, we aim to enhance PR implementation across all Canadian cancer centres using a knowledge-translation and implementation framework. Methods: This project will facilitate increased uptake of PR in Canadian RT programs by implementing the top-down model used with success in Ontario. This model has several key components, including: a) engaging the leadership of provincial cancer agencies to promote PR at every Provincial cancer centre; b) providing modest financial support for the acquisition of the required hardware and/or staff time for coordinating PR activities; c) systematic collection of each centre’s baseline PR activities, perceived barriers and potential facilitators of PR at each centre; d) creation of a continuous quality improvement cycle by monitoring PR quality indicators over time; e) systematic knowledge and information sharing regarding effective PR processes. Results: Funding for this initiative was obtained from the Canadian Partnership against Cancer (CPAC) in April 2014. A steering committee consisting of stakeholders from across Canada has been struck and provincial launches, based on the tenets used in Ontario, have commenced in 7 of 13 provinces with others expressing interest. A national survey to obtain baseline data relating to PR activities, perceived barriers, and facilitators is underway and will be reported. Conclusions: Preliminary evidence suggests a “snowball effect” of increasing PR uptake across Canada. The implementation model could be applied in other jurisdictions interested in increasing PR in radiation oncology.

Optimization of HSE in maintenance activities by integration of continuous improvement cycle and fuzzy multivariate approach: A gas refinery

Gas refineries have been continuously focusing on Health, Safety and Environment programs to improve maintenance activities. Several researches have studied on this area with different analysis methods. This study presents an integrated approach for optimization of factors contributing to the implementation of Health, Safety and Environment (HSE) in maintenance activities. HSE managers in each sector answered standard questionnaire whit respect to HES. The methodology is based on fuzzy data envelopment analysis (FDEA) and Deming's continuous improvement cycle. Also, this method is used to rank the relevant performance efficiencies in certain and uncertain conditions of each HSE sectors whit considering HSE in maintenance activities. It corresponds and integrates its registered HSE-MS with OHSAS 18001:2007 and ISO 14001:2004 to evaluate multiple inputs and outputs of over 36 subsidiary HSE divisions with parallel mission and objectives simultaneously. Also, it determines efficient target indices and could assure continuous improvement in the organization. This is the first study that introduces an integrated approach to improve HSE management programs in a gas refinery by a robust and continuous improvement approach.

A Novel Hybrid Approach to Analyze Cost of Quality: Balanced Scorecard and Fuzzy Logic

In this paper, a new methodology in the area of cost of quality (COQ) is proposed to determine the optimal investment allocation to all costs. The goal is to minimize costs involved in achieving a required level of quality. The contribution of this paper is fourfold: (I) considering two types of weights for each part of COQ, in which the first type is determined by the cost volume and the second is obtained by applying a decision-making technique; (II) participating shareholders’ opinions through the balanced scorecard method; (III) presenting a mathematical programming model to maximize the investment effectiveness; and (IV) considering a continuous improvement cycle to tune the model parameters. In addition, we also develop a COQ technique in fuzzy environment to enhance the accuracy of traditional methods of employing linguistic variables. To demonstrate the applicability of the presented methodology, a numerical example is investigated.